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Bank assures account safety

Thefts occurred in west Georgia

Forsyth County News

Crystal Ledford

Updated:
May 5, 2013, 12:25 a.m.

Officials with Bank of North Georgia say local customers have little to worry about in light of reports that accounts in west Georgia had been violated.

Bank of North Georgia, which has one branch in Forsyth County on Buford Highway near Market Place Boulevard, merged with Bank of Coweta earlier this year.

Investigators in that county, which is southwest of Atlanta near the Alabama state line, are looking into about 100 bank accounts that have reportedly been drained by thieves.

Somehow those responsible for the theft managed to get debit card information and personal identification numbers for at least 105 customers of Bank of Coweta.

In an e-mail statement, Greg Hudgison, a spokesman for Bank of North Georgia, said the accounts involved in the theft have been secured.

“Since learning of this issue, we have followed our normal customer response procedures to minimize impact,” he wrote.

“It is important for customers to know that, at this time, the number of impacted check card holders represents a very small percentage of our overall customer base and cards with confirmed fraudulent activity have already been blocked and reissued.”

Hudgison went on to note that the bank monitors account transactions to look for “any suspicious activity.”

However, he did encourage customers to always watch their own accounts for anything unusual.

“To help prevent fraud and identity theft, we also encourage our customers to check their bank statements regularly to look for and report any unauthorized transactions,” he wrote.